As is known, standards governing the electric components of electric household appliances require that the various components be supplied by means of terminal boards which can only be opened using tools, and which distribute electric current to the various user devices on the appliance by means of contacts supplied with current by a supply cable. Noise filters are also required to prevent the user devices on the appliance from generating electromagnetic noise; and the supply cable must be retained to prevent it, when pulled sharply, from being detached from the terminal board.
At present, all these requirements are met using separate devices. In particular, the noise filter is normally in the form of a separate component defined by a plastic body housing the electronic components and relative connections embedded in insulating resin; the body is fitted to the inside of the appliance body, and wires extend from the filter body and are connected downstream from the terminal board. This therefore calls for two specific assembly operations--in addition to those required to assemble the terminal board--whenever a filter is required, thus increasing the assembly cost of the appliance.
The terminal board, on the other hand, normally comprises a molded synthetic plastic box which, once the supply cable wires are connected to the various contacts, is closed and eventually made inaccessible in various ways (e.g. using irremovable connecting means between the cover and base of the terminal board), all of which are expensive systems calling for extra work in addition to actual assembly of the terminal board itself. To eliminate the above drawbacks, most currently known terminal boards feature a built-in cable clamp normally defined by a screw-operated pressure member for gripping the cable, and which therefore need not be produced as a separate element as in the past.